Playing and enjoying the ukulele together!
Was reminded by Jennifer Lowe on Facebook about two of James Hill’s songs that I enjoyed hearing him play at the Reno-Tahoe Uke Fest this past March. Jennifer saw both James and Anne Davison at the Cairns Uke Festival. Anne was not at Reno.
The first one is a cute sing-a-long, ‘agnostic gospel’ –
The second one is ‘One Note Samba’ –
Other videos by James and others at the Reno-Tahoe Uke Fest can be seen here – http://playuke.info/reno-tahoe-ukefest/2010-videos/
Enjoy!
First of all, Cairns is in Australia –http://wikitravel.org/en/Cairns
I haven’t heard the result yet but the ‘Ukulele enthusiasts will gather this afternoon (Saturday, July 3) at the Courthouse Hotel in an attempt to break the world record for most number of ukuleles played at the same time…The previous record, kept by London, attracted 851 players.’
Read more about it – Uke fever hits Cairns- Local Cairns News | cairns.com.au
The festival’s Website is listed with a hyphen but that didn’t work for me. Try this – http://cairnsukulelefestival.net/
You may also follow the festival on Twitter – http://twitter.com/cairnsukefest
I was looking for the words and chords to a song this morning and ran across John Pak’s Website. John has a collection of ukulele to drool over. On his Website you’ll find some nicely produced performance videos, some great song sheets and much more. Check out his Ukuleles and the rest of his Website – My Ukuleles
* note that the songs on his Website are ‘ interpretations for private study and practice’.
Need three chord songs to play? Mel Bay has four books in their ‘101 Three-Chord____ Songs’ series. Buy the books OR use the ‘song lists’ (look for the ‘Contents’ tab for each songbook) of each to try playing the songs by ear and the lyrics by memory.
The books include:
– ‘101 Three-Chord Children’s Songs for Guitar, Banjo & Uke’
– ‘101 Three-Chord Country & Bluegrass Songs for Guitar, Banjo & Uke’
– ‘101 Three-Chord Hymns & Gospel Songs for Guitar, Banjo & Uke’
– ‘101 Three-Chord Songs for Guitar, Banjo & Uke’
There is also a ’50 Three-Chord Christmas Songs for Guitar, Banjo & Uke’
With the books ‘you will need only minimal playing skills and three chords–G, C, and D7–to accompany each song in this great book. The jam-packed book is invaluable for all beginning musicians, casual musicians, teachers, family bands, and performers. Melody, lyrics, and chords are included for all songs…
Guitar, uke, and five-string banjo diagrams are included for the three chords, along with basic accompaniment tips. Transposing and how-to-use-the-capo tips are included for singers. An invaluable sourcebook for teachers–and a handy, compact fakebook for performers.’
Check them out… Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
If you are reading this I suspect that you THINK you do. Of course, Uke is short for ukulele. But what does UKE or U.K.E. stand for? “Ukulele and Kazoo Ensemble” of course! This is a group in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Michigan.
AnnArbor.com announces:
Calling all ukulele strummers, kazoo players, friends and family: the Ann Arbor Ukulele and Kazoo Ensemble (U.K.E.) wants you to march in the 20th Annual Ann Arbor Jaycees Fourth of July Parade.’
…’Anyone interested in joining the Ann Arbor Ukulele and Kazoo Ensemble can go online to http://www.box.net/annarborukes to download songs, sheet music and other information.’
The ensemble will play some great Patriotic Standards including:
– “Yankee Doodle Boy” with “You’re A Grand Old Flag” by George M. Cohan,
– Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,”
– “When The Saints Go Marching In”
– and an original composition, “Ukes On The March.”
Parade Group Seeks Ukulele and Kazoo Players – Community News
I think you’ll agree that these are some great looking trunks!
Ukulele Blooms Swim Trunks If you like fine clothes check them out. Love them!
Mind you, I would never pay $58.00 for a pair of trunks when I could buy another Makala or other inexpensive uke for that much. I will, however, be looking for them at our local GoodWill store. Guess I’d better be patient – it will take a while for these to show up there AND I’ll need to wash them SEVERAL times.
If you know of a similar cheap version of these great trunks please let me know. : )
Ralph Shaw posted a delightful story about his brief brush with fame with the movie, the ‘A-Team’. Would have loved to been there! : )
Another good Basic Major Chords Video…
Hawaii Music Supply presents Aaron in a great teaching video on “Right Hand Strumming for Beginners.”
ezFolk.com offers a great strumming tutorial for absolute beginners! The tutorial features very clear examples AND ‘midi files’ in three speeds: very slow, slow and normal. The Website tells the player to use the tutorial this way:
‘Try the different patterns with different songs and see how they sound. You can decide which patterns work best for you, and it’s up to you to decide which fit in the best with certain songs. After a while you’ll be strumming away, not really thinking about playing a particular pattern but just letting your fingers play what feels right at the time.’
Check out ezFolk.com’s great strumming tutorial! http://www.ezfolk.com